On most current commercial airline suites, particularly in first class, a seat or chair is used for both sitting upright as well as sleeping because the chair converts into the bed. Unfortunately, an ideal chair is contoured and concaved to fit a seated body while an ideal bed is completely flat. Moreover, seat cushions are often too firm for ideal sleeping comfort. It is generally not possible to achieve an ideal bed and chair from a single product. One position or the other is generally compromised.
Airlines often choose one position over the other as the priority. Typical seats are usually heavy, complex electromechanical systems that move from a seated position to a bed position. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, that, in the present invention, by using a separate bed, a prior art seat that transforms between upright and bed positions does not need to be used (however, it may be if desired). This allows the use of a simple mechanical seat without the need for electromechanical actuators, substantially reducing the cost and weight of installing a passenger suite. Because an electromechanical actuation system is the most prone to reliability and service issues, simplifying the seat can improve the overall reliability of the suite.
Some solutions involve storing a separate bed portion next to a passenger seat, in a closet or in another area of the aircraft. While in use as a seat, the bed is stored in the side ledge area of a seating compartment, closet or elsewhere. A passenger convenience area, with cupholders and storage bins, may be provided in the side ledge area while the bed is stored. When converted into a sleeping position, the bed is deployed over the seat and is usually supported, in part, by the seat. Because the bed deploys from the side ledge area, the passenger convenience area becomes inaccessible while in the sleeping position. Moreover, such a design requires a specially manufactured seat and bed structures that are fully integrated with each other, creating significant design and manufacturing expense.